Gingrich dubbed ‘Newt Gringo’ for Latino outreach in any language

The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin offers up a great piece on Newt GIngrich’s GOP Latino strategy, and he dubs the Republican leader “Newt Gringo.”

What has Gingrich been doing to appeal to Latino voters?

He has learned Spanish, appeared on Univision and “twittered” in Spanish.

Sarlin points out Gingrich’s missteps: in a Tweet he called Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whose nomination to the Supreme Court has moved to the full Senate, a “Latin woman racist.” On YouTube, he calls Spanish the language of the ghetto. Though he has moderated some of his views, he has been a staunch opponent of bilingual education, supported making English the official language of the United States and backed legislation that would have let states bar children of undocumented immigrants from school.

Still, Sarlin writes, “the former speaker of the House is engaged in a serious effort to court the Latino vote.” The result has been more pandering than persuasion.

Former Texas Republican congressman Henry Bonilla tells The Daily Beast that Latino voters don’t come around because a politician speaks the language. Though nice, its ultimately superficial if not backed by legislation, policy and a consistent approach to Latino issues.

“True inroads, by contrast, require politicians to actively engage local communities and institutions the same way they would with any other constituency,” the story says Bonilla surmised.

President George W. Bush spoke Spanish and got Latino support, but his language skills, as they were, weren’t why. At the onset, Bush better understood border issues and, before 9/11, offered hope for comprehensive immigration reform. Latino voters from the two major parities got that.

As one political observer notes, “Simply speaking in Spanish isn’t enough. You have to be competent on the issues that matter.”